Metallic reenforcement for concrete



April 29, 1924. 1,492,441

H..J. FOSTER ET AL METALLIC REENFORCEMENT FOR CONCRETE Filed April 9, 1920 2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 April 29, 1924. 1,492,441

' H. J. FOSTER ET AL METALLIC REENFORCEMENT FOR CONCRETE Filed April 9, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J? WC WM Patented Apr. 29, 1924*.

TES

PA OFFICE.

HENRY J. FOSTER AND JOHN BURKHARDT, OF CLEV LAND, onro, ASSIGNORS TO THE HYDRAULIC PRESSED STEEL COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, aconronnrlon OF OHIO.

METALLIC REENFOROEMENT FOB CONCRETE.

Application filed April 9,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY J. FOSTER and JOHN BURKHARDT, citizens of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Metallic Reenforcements for Goncrete, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being ha to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates generally to metallic reenforcement for concrete columns and girders and more particularly to the novel construction of spacer for holding a coiled reinforcing rod in position. Metallic reenforcements of this character usually embody a helically coiled rod and a plurality of longitudinal spacers, and various schemes have been devised for connecting the coil to the spacers, and considerable time and labor is expended in so connecting these parts.

One object of the present invention is to provide a spacer of such character that the coil can be quickly and easily connected to the spacer either at the factory or at the point where the reinforcing concrete structure is to be erected; and another object of the invention is to provide a spacer which will be exceedingly light and at the same time possess considerable degree of strength; and a still further object is to provide a spacer of such a nature that when connected with the coil, will permit the handling of the assembled reenforcement without bend ing or twisting.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a spacer which can be manufactured at the small cost, and which will elimi nate all supplemental accessories or tying devices for connecting the coil thereto.

With these various objects in view, the invention consists essentially in providing a spacer composed of a strip of sheet metal notched or slotted at the edges so as to provide oppositely projecting prongs for the purpose of holding the coils of the helically coiled rod to said spacer, said slots or notches being of such construction and so positioned as to permit the ready insertion of the coil into the slots when placed oblique to the longitudinal axis of the spacer and yet hold the coil against displacement when the portions thereof in the slots are turned at right 1920. Serial No. 372.403.

angles to said longitudinal axis. Theinvention conslsts also in certain details of construction and novelties of combination hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Fig. 1 is a view of the blank spacer; Fig. 2 is a detail view of said spacer when first folded; Fig. 3 is a view of said spacer when completely folded; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line H of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 50f Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the completely folded spacer; Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view showing the manner of arranging coils in the slots or notches of the spacer; Fig. v8 is a similar view showing the spacer completely folded; and Fig. 9 is a detail plan view of a modified form of slot or notch. In the practical embodiment of our invention, we employ a strip of sheet metal A which may be any desired width and length and also of any desired gauge ofmetal: The opposite edges of the strip are notched or slotted as shown at B providing'upon the opposite sides oppositely projecting prongs C, and it willbe noted that the centers D of said slotsare in transverse alignment with each other and that each opposed pair of prongs C are also in transverse alignment.

In practice, we prefer to out these slots or notches obliquely as shown but it will be understood that they can be cut otherwise as most clearly shown in the modified form illustrated in Fig. 9 so' long as the oppositely projecting prongs are substantially in transverse alignment and provided further that the opposite side of the notch or slot is sufiiciently far removed to permit the insertion of the coil obliquely as hereinafter explained. After the fiat strip of sheet metal has been punched as illustrated in Fig. 1, said strip is folded longitudinally so that the wings thereof diverge as most clearly shown in Fig. 4. After the strip has been punched and folded as before de: scribed, it is arranged in a horizontal position and the helically coiled wire or rod E is then placed thereon and one coil at a time is introduced into a pair of opposed slots or notches and in introducing the coil it is first placed obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the spacer as shown at F and in which position it can be readily introduced into the slots or notches riding down the inclined sides thereof and when the coil is brought to a transverse position as indicated at G it will be noted that it will be held beneath the oppositely projecting prongs C. As previously stated, these coils are placed one at a time into the notches or slots and immediately assume transverse position as soon as placed therein and released, and consequently the entire helix can be quickly and easily connected to the longitudinal spacer, and after all the coils have been properly positioned then the edges of the wings are brought together or made'to converge as most clearly shown in Fig. 6 and after. the wings have been brought together in this manner it willbe impossibleto disconnect the spiral therefrom. After one spacer has been connected to the helix, a second or thirdspacer can be similarly connected to the helix at other points and when the desired number of spacers have been connected in the manner hereinbefore set forth the complete reinforcing unit will be provided and the unit thus made can be set up in the column mold and in setting the same up the movement thereof will be greatly facilitated owing to the rigidity of the spacers, which rigidity is due to the fact that a folded strip of metal is employed, and when a folded strip such as herein shown is employed a much lighter gauge of metal can be used thereby greatly reducing the cost of the reinforcing element. It will be .understood that after the coils of the rod have been inserted in the notches, the opposed wings of the strip can be brought together all at once or in successive series as desired.

Owing to the ease and facility with which the coiled rod can be connected to the spacers it will be possible to ship the spirals and spacers separate and connect thespirals and spacers at the point where the concrete structure is to be erected thereby materially reducing the cost of transportation, and also facilitating the handling of the parts. In Fig. 9 we have illustrated a slight modification in which the prongs are made straight instead of being out upon oblique lines, but when the strip is folded, the prongs C will be brought into proper relative position and owing to the fact that ample space is provided, the portion of the coilcan be readily inserted at an oblique angle and'thcn turned at a right angle so as to bring the same beneath the prong C. Other forms of slots or notches may be provided so long as the relative positions of the prongs are maintained and provided ample space is given for the manipulation of the rod.

A spacer constructed as herein shown and described is easily manufactured and owing to thefacility with which it can be connected with the coiled rod, the cost of the reinforcing unit as a whole is materially reduced. The spacer, in addition to reducing the cost of production adds materially to the strength of the reinforcing unit as a whole due to the fact that the strip of sheet metal is folded longitudinally upon itself.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. A metallic reenforcement comprising a helically coiled rod, and a longitudinally folded sheet metal strip, the edges thereof being oppositely slotted providing opposed pairs of prongs, the opposite edges of said strip being brought into parallel relationwith each other and in close proximity and whereby the opposed prongs overlap the coils of the helical rod.

2. A metallic reenforcement comprising a helically coiled rod and a metallic strip, said metallic strip having its opposed edges formed with oppositely disposed notches, said strip being folded longitudinally and the opposed edges brought into close proximity and in substantially parallel relation to each other, the coils of the helical rod resting within the opposed notchesin the strip edges.

In testimony whereof, We hereunto affix our signatures.

HENRY J FOSTER. JOHN BURKHARDT. 

